1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of medical equipment and more specifically relates to an apparatus for preventing flexure of a patient's hip in order to avoid soft tissue injury in a patient's leg who has femorally catheterized.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is necessary in many types of cardiovascular operations or treatments, particularly those involving an endovascular technique, to access the cardiovascular system of a patient through a femoral artery. An incision is made in the leg below and adjacent the groin into the femoral artery. A guiding catheter is inserted into the incision through which an endovascular catheter or other device is disposed for the purposes of the surgical treatment or medical procedure. For example, angioplastic surgery is routinely performed through a femoral incision. A relatively rigid tube is thus placed within the incision and left in place for purposes of guiding the endovascular catheter and to avoid abrasion or further injury or damage to the soft tissues while the endovascular catheter is manipulated.
After the procedure is completed, the guide tube is often left in place and then coupled to an intravenous feed device through which fluids, antibiotics, anticoagulants or other drugs can be continuously or periodically administered during the first hours or days after the endovascular procedure is completed.
Typically, after angioplastic surgery the patient is confined to a bed and provided with intravenous feeding as described above at least through an overnight period. The guide tube is secured in place with tape or bandaging in order to prevent its movement or dislodgment during the initial recuperation period. Very often the patient is sore or tender from the operation and is little inclined in any case to make large or forceful movements while confined to the bed. Additionally the patient's cooperation is requested to voluntarily refrain from making any movements which would disturb the guide tube or aggravate the injury inherent with the femoral incision.
However, even the most disciplined and most cooperative patient will invariably make repeated hip or leg movements while confined in the bed while asleep or unconscious. The result is that many patients will wake the following morning and find that they have a large hematoma in the groin region or in the area of the femoral incision. This hematoma is caused by involuntary sleep movements resulting in soft tissue injury and internal bleeding as the guide tube inserted into the femoral incision is abused by such sleep movements.
The prior art has not devised any means for preventing or reducing such soft tissue injury in femorally catheterized patients other than attempting to fix the guide tube relative to the thigh by taping and bandaging. As stated above, such prior art attempts are often ineffective and in some cases even dramatically ineffective. While the prior art has devised various means in connection with orthopedic surgery for preventing or controlling movement of a patient's hips or limbs for the purposes of treating bone injury diseases, no such teaching is known with respect to prevention of soft tissue injury. See, for example, St. Vincent et al., "Abductor Turntable", U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,805 (1985), for immobilizing the ball and socket joint of a patient's hip and numerous patient restraint devices, typically used with violent, uncontrollable patients or prisoners such as shown by Condit, "Restraining Device", U.S. Pat. No. 2,215,454 (1940) and Brill, "Restraining Device", U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,842 (1954).
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus and method whereby soft tissue injury to a femorally catheterized patient can be prevented or at least substantially reduced even from unconscious sleep movements.